Queen
by micchimelon
Summary: "Someday I'll be queen and the king will call me beautiful and say I look like a painting framed in gold." One-sided Ino/Sasuke, eventual Sakura/Sasuke;; Ino-centric.


**A/N:** I guess this is kinda AU? Well, not really, hehe. Ino's just daydreaming, that's all. Anyway, I was listening to Queen by Liz Longley and this came up ;-; I swear, it's such a lovely song, I almost cried. Originally I was going to write about Sansa Stark (from A Song of Ice and Fire) but then hey—why not write about Ino?

**Disclaimer:** Text in breaks from Queen by Liz Longley.

* * *

**Queen**

* * *

An orange glow spills from her window, as if inviting her to bask in its glorious rays. She follows its lead, sits on her windowsill, and looks at the view of a beautiful summer sunset, the colours a lovely haze of warm earth tones. A cool breeze greets her smooth-skinned cheeks, makes her long hair dance gracefully as she continues to look out her window, at the streets with the laughing children, at the mesmerizing verdurous leaves of the trees, at Konoha's ancient mountains, at the sunset.

She takes in the marvelous sight, breathes in and out.

_In and out, in and out._

Slowly the sight of the horizon blinds her, twists her sense of difference between dreams and reality, and sucks her into her world of daydreams.

And then suddenly, she is no longer in her plain clothes, but in a charmingly splendid gown of gold and violet, the colours of royalty complementing her quite well. Her hair is done in an elegant style, as befits a lady like her. And she is no longer sitting on her room's slightly dusty windowsill, but on a soft velvet chair, with golden armrests and a comfort her room's old windowsill never gave her.

There she is—a beautiful queen sitting on a fancy chair on a fancy terrace that overlooks the village bellow. A queen of a peaceful civilian world, just like the ones from the pages of history books she once read.

* * *

_Someday I'll be queen,_

_And watch the children flood the streets_

_From my window._

* * *

She is a queen now, in her world of daydreams.

Not a queen that leads like a Hokage, no. She is a queen that leads a village with no shinobis, no wars, and no complex politics that will cause any clan's downfall. In her kingdom, everyone is happy and everyone leads a peaceful civilian life.

She gazes out her terrace and sees the children laughing happily just like she and her friends when she was younger.

She makes sure that no such thing as a tailed beast exists in her kingdom, and no such thing as an organization with men in red and black cloaks exists, so that no silver-haired man with a Three-Bladed Scythe will kill the man she thinks of as a second father.

As queen, she makes sure there is no man who kills his entire clan and makes a little black-haired boy cry.

She makes sure that no little black-haired boy gets into a fight with a blond, blue-eyed friend. She makes sure this lonely, suffering black-haired boy does not leave her kingdom with a heart full of hatred, and if he decides to, she swears to herself that she will not let him go. She will hug him and kiss him on the cheek and assure him that she is there for him, like a mother is to her son.

In her world, there is no such thing as a Shinobi World War. In her world, her teacher does not die, her father is safe and sound, and her friend Neji is well and breathing.

She makes sure these children will keep on laughing and playing in her kingdom where everyone is safe.

* * *

_And I'll sip on raspberry tea,_

_As I search for the faces_

_Of the smiles in my dreams._

* * *

She takes her afternoon tea in the pavilion in the middle of the garden, her favourite place in the kingdom simply because her gentle king had it built especially for her. She sips daintily from porcelain tea cups, hears the birds chirping, and wishes that this was reality.

In her world of daydreams, her people look up to her and think of her as someone dependable. In her world, no one calls her 'snotty Ino', or 'bossy bitch', or 'hopeless romantic'. In here, she is the queen—intelligent and splendid and beautiful.

In here, no other lady, be it her pretty pink-haired best friend or a shy blue-haired girl with pearl eyes, is smarter and more beautiful than her.

In this world, no war happens and both her father and her teacher are alive and healthy, Shikamaru thinks she's strong on her own and does not see her as someone weak, Sakura admits she's no better than her, Naruto is loved and not shunned, and everyone else greets her with genuine smiles.

* * *

_The king will call me beautiful,_

_Say I look like a painting_

_Framed in gold._

* * *

Her king—tall and dashing, black-haired and beautiful, asks her for a walk in the gardens. He holds her hands and compliments how soft they feel, and she replies with a shy smile.

In her world, he is not an internationally wanted criminal with an insatiable thirst for vengeance, nor is he a cold man who has forgotten everything they went through and the memories they had together as kids.

No.

In her world, Sasuke is her king—a charming, gentle king with all the world's graces at the tip of his fingers, ready for command. And instead of having no family, his father and mother and even his older brother send their regards to her and Sasuke, wishing them a happy marriage.

In her world, he is not a man with a dark heart. He is a king with a good soul, and he often smiles at her with the warmest look in his face.

'Sasuke,' she says softly.

If this was reality, he would've given her an indifferent look, with the coldness still embedded within him and consuming him.

But this isn't reality (_unfortunately_, she sighs).

In this world of daydreams, he looks at her with admiring eyes, love burning in them. He praises her elegance and says, '_You're beautiful, my lady' _and she lets these daydreams linger a little longer because she knows that in reality, this is nowhere near possible.

* * *

_And he'll twirl me around_

_While the horses run wild._

* * *

Sometimes her king invites her to go riding with him, and they would take the best horses from the stables and race towards the hill with the field of poppies. They would tie their horses on a tree and walk hand-in-hand as they look upon their kingdom from the hilltop.

He kisses her hand and leads her in a dance.

She takes in the details of every little thing—how big and warm his hands are, the scent of the summer breeze, and the whirl of red poppies as he twirls her around in a dance.

He laughs and she giggles as they go on dancing until they are tired. There, on the hilltop without anyone to see them, he kisses her with the gentlest touch of lips, and they smile and look at each other lovingly.

And then she realizes that this field is as red as his eyes—eyes filled with murderous intent as he swore vengeance upon Konoha, and her world starts to fade as reality starts to set in.

But the queen's will is strong, so she clings desperately to this imaginary world because she knows that in reality, he would've killed her then and there, leaving her lying on the field with a pool of blood as red as the poppies.

* * *

_And the moon will lay us down_

_On velvet sheets,_

_When I'm the queen._

* * *

In her world, their room is spacious and warm, with a comfortable bed near a wide window so that if you were to lay awake on it at night, the ethereal glow of the moon will spill over you and cast an enchanting effect.

At night, she rests her head on her king's chest as he strokes her soft hair. The moonglow makes everything seem like a fairytale. Her king shows his love to her physically as he gives her an ineffable kiss and consummates their love. They join their two souls into one, both of them manifesting their emotions through this intimate act to give them both mutual ecstasy as lovers—a king and a queen.

_Shhhh_, something seems to whisper to her and for a moment, she thought it was her king as they press against each other in a passionate profession of their love.

_Shhhh_.

_It is not her king_, Ino realizes, _it is the wind_.

She shudders as a wild breeze suddenly almost throws her out of balance on her dusty windowsill, and she spirals back to reality as images of her perfect fairytale fades away from her imagination. She is back at her room in Konoha, her shared room with her king now replaced by her own small messy room, and the view outside the window is no longer that of her kingdom, but of Konoha's rock mountains.

This is reality.

She remembers that in reality, Sasuke will not even let her touch him. In reality, it is not she whom he is holding in his arms. It is her best friend.

This brings a sudden aching sensation in her chest, so she seeks solace once again in her own world of daydreams.

* * *

_Someday when I'm queen,_

_I will travel the world._

* * *

She wishes to travel the world, to all the countries, and discover every secret there is. In reality, the only time she is allowed to travel outside Konoha is when she is on a mission to another country. It is dangerous to go outside the village's borders alone nowadays, so she swears to herself, _When I am queen, my country will be safe for everyone_.

But she realizes this is futile wishful thinking because she is a kunoichi, and her world is a shinobi world in war, not a peaceful civilian world.

In her dreams, she goes out of her kingdom to learn more about the world and life itself. She is sad that her king cannot go with her, what with all his duties and all. But even though he is busy, he sends her away with a loving kiss and a tender embrace.

'Stay safe,' he says. 'I will be waiting for you.'

And she nods at him.

In reality, it is she that is waiting for him.

_Sasuke-kun, please come home. My king, I am waiting for you._

* * *

_And when I miss my throne,_

_The trumpets will sound,_

_And the king will welcome me home._

* * *

In her world, she comes back after a long time of travelling, and her king is excited and commands every idle person in the castle to prepare a feast for her arrival. He welcomes her into his arms, and she complies eagerly and recalls the many other times he held her like that.

'I have missed you,' he says. 'So much.' And the queen tightens her arms around him, taking in his warmth and the scent of him.

* * *

_And he'll twirl me around_

_While the horses run wild._

_And the moon will lay us down_

_On velvet sheets._

* * *

In reality, it is her king who arrives after a long time away from home. And in reality, he does not take her into his arms and hug her and say how much he missed her. He does not arrive at a peaceful kingdom, but rather, in a land with ruins and a savage war going on.

In reality, it is not the king who says _I have missed you_. It is the queen.

In reality, he does not say _You're beautiful, my lady_. He does not twirl her around while they dance on a field of poppies, but rather, it is her pink-haired best friend he takes with him. And it is not on a field of poppies, but rather, on a field surrounded by cherry blossoms with the petals raining upon them, as pink as his queen's hair. In reality, he does not lay with her on velvet sheets under the moonlight.

He is no king, and she is no queen.

_Everything is just a dream_, she sighs as she gets off the dusty windowsill and shuts her window.

* * *

_Someday I'll be queen,_

_And make my dreams a reality._


End file.
